THERE were precious few pluses to come out of Wales’ autumn campaign, but Scott Andrews was definitely one.

THERE were precious few pluses to come out of Wales’ autumn campaign, but Scott Andrews was definitely one.

You could have been forgiven for fearing the worst when injuries to Adam Jones and Aaron Jarvis left the Blues prop having to fill the tighthead berth against New Zealand and Australia.

He’d endured a torrid time at the scrum on his one previous start for Wales against Australia in December 2011, and he’d had his struggles in that department at regional level.

But the 23-year-old defied his doubters, holding his own in the tight and making a major contribution in the loose with his ball-handling skills and carrying.

It was a heartening story and a reward for refusing to give up the fight.

“It’s just been a process of looking at myself and working hard and sticking at it,” he said. “It’s a long old road. You get ups and downs along the way.

“You are going to get doubters out there.

“It’s all about believing in yourself and not doubting yourself.

“If it doesn’t go well one game, it doesn’t mean what you are doing is wrong.

“You are not going to have a career as a prop without having a few tough games, especially in your early days.

“But the longer you go on, the more experience you get and hopefully you get better and you get less tough days.”

Having undergone surgery on his hip and knee over the summer, it proved a tough start to the season for Andrews as he found first-team opportunities hard to come by and shared in the Blues’ trials in the tight when he did get on the field.

So it would have raised a few eyebrows when he was recalled by Wales, but he was to more than justify his selection.

Coming off the bench just a minute into the All Blacks game, he stood up to the challenge and then shone after getting the start against Australia.

“I went from not being involved, to being on the bench to having a start, so that was quite pleasing really,” he said.

“I built on the performance against New Zealand and improved a little bit as well.

“From a set-piece point of view, it was fairly pleasing .

“There were a couple of good scrums there and I was happy with that.

“I’ve been working so hard on my set-piece over the last few months.”

Andrews also demonstrated his ability in the loose, proving himself more than comfortable with ball-in-hand and also putting in his share of tackles.

“Obviously the job is set-piece first, but I like to try and offer a bit around the park,” he said. “If you can offer something different, then that’s good.”

The downside of the autumn campaign for the Llantrisant product were the results, particularly the last-gasp defeat to Australia.

“It was a bitter pill to swallow there at the end,” he admitted.

“We worked so hard for 80 minutes and I felt we were in control.

“It was sickening really, hard to take. I couldn’t believe it really, it was just gutting.”

Nevertheless, Andrews is keen for more international duty and will be looking to stake his claim with the Blues, who return to Heineken Cup action against Montpellier on Sunday.